Tuesday 8 July 1941

Finnish tank crew with captured T-8, July 8, 1941 (Photo: SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: In the Far North sector, Operation Arctic Fox produces its first significant success when German XXXVI Corps takes Salla on 8 July 1941. The Soviet 122nd Rifle Division retreats and is closely followed by the Germans and Finnish 6th Division. The fighting is bitter, and the Soviets lose 50 tanks and most of their artillery. SS Division Nord pursues Soviet 122nd Rifle Division toward Lampela, while the German 169th Division advances toward Kayraly. Finnish 6th Division continues its left-hook maneuver and tries to get behind the Soviets retreating toward Kayraly and Lape Apa.

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans of General Reinhardt's 41st Panzer Korps, 4th Panzer Group (Colonel General Erich Hoeppner) reach Pskov. The city sustains extensive damages, including the medieval citadel. This is the first major penetration of the Stalin Line. A little to the north, General Dietl's Army of Norway is stopped after establishing a bridgehead over the Litsa River, well short of its objective of Murmansk.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Colonel Walther von Hünsdorff (hidden), Colonel-General Hermann Hoth, Colonel-General Wolfram von Richthofen. (Moosdorf/Mossdorf, Federal Archives, Bild 101I-265-0048A-03).

In the Army Group Center sector, tank ace Otto Carius is in the lead tank of the 20th Panzer Division (General Hoth's Panzer Group 3) at Ulla on the Dvina River when his Czech-built 38(t) tank is hit. The Russian 47-mm antitank round penetrates the front armor, smashes Carius' teeth and amputates the left arm of the radio operator. After being patched up, Carius hitchhikes to the front, now on the outskirts of Vitebsk (from Carius' "Tigers in the Mud"), and rejoins his unit.

In the Army Group South sector, German Panzer Group 1 and Sixth Army meet a Soviet counterattack at Kishinev by Soviet 5th Army. The Germans simply reorient their advance slightly to the north.

Luftwaffe ace (7 victories) Walter Margstein of JG 53 is killed in action.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Australian 2/3rd Battalion and 2/5th Battalion of 7th Division cut the road from Damour north to Beirut. In addition, in the south, 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and units of 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment march north along the coast road.

Vichy General Henri Dentz, the commander of French forces in the Levant, has seen enough. Even though Damour itself still holds out, the Australian advance around Damour has made the defense of Beirut problematic. Dentz quietly seeks terms for peace.

"RAF aerial photograph of Wilhelmshaven." © IWM (HU 91200).

European Air Operations: The RAF has been accumulating and training on Boeing B-17C Flying Fortresses for months. Today, RAF Bomber Command sends the B-17s on their first operational mission, a daylight flight to Wilhelmshaven. Assigned to RAF Bomber Command's No. 90 Squadron based at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, the three B-17s fly individual sorties (one has to abort to a secondary target) rather than together as a formation.

The RAF is unhappy with the results and makes clear that future bombing runs are to be conducted as formations rather than individually. The crews complain of various shortcomings of the bombers, including difficulties using the Norden bombsight and inadequate defensive armament.

RAF Fighter Command sends Circus missions to attack the Lens power station (13 fighter squadrons, one bomber lost) and Lille (19 fighter squadrons, 7 losses). The RAF also sends a sweep over northern France.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Muenster (51 bombers) and Hamm (73), Biefeld (33), and Merseburg (14).

The Luftwaffe sends a night raid against Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Fortress B.I AN530, WP-F (U.S.A.A.F. B-17C 40-2066) in RAF service (Royal Air Force).

Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy submarine HMS Sealion sinks Vichy French trawlers Christus Regnat and St Pierre d'Alacantra off Ushant (Ouessant, Finistère).

German 460-ton converted minesweeping trawler M-1104 Jan Hubert collides with another vessel off southwest Norway and sinks.

Convoy HG-67 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

Canadian corvette HMCS Shediac (Lt. Commander Lt. John O. Every-Clayton) is commissioned.

U-86, U-161 and U-656 are commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay surfaces east of the island of Kithera (Kythera), Greece and uses its deck gun to sink German freighters LXIV and LI.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Cornwall hits a wharf in Durban and sustains damage to its stem.

At Malta, the Italian Regia Aeronautica sends bombing missions against various points. An RAF Hurricane shoots down an Italian BR-20 "Stork" medium bomber south of the island.

"Boeing Fortress Mk I of No. 90 Squadron RAF based at West Raynham, Norfolk, 20 June 1941." © IWM (CH 2873).

Axis Relations: The major European Axis powers officially carve up Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's neighbors receive "a little something:"

• Italy obtains: Dalmatian coast and some related islands, part of Slovenia, and rule over an expanded Croatia ("Great Croatia") as an "independent kingdom" via new king the Duke of Savoy
• Hungary: the Backa and Baranya triangle
• Germany: Serbian and Banat administration via puppet government, plus garrisons the remainder of Slovenia
• Bulgaria: part of Macedonia
• Albania: the remainder of Macedonia
• Montenegro: independence

The benefits of this carve-up to the recipients are few. However, they reflect long-held national desires for expansion into areas of "historic interest" and nationalism.

The Italian Embassy, Berlin. Note the blacked-out headlights and equipment for emergency lighting, in accordance with blackout regulations (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archives, Bild 212-061).

Anglo/Soviet Relations: A Soviet military mission arrives in London.

Winston Churchill's first personal message to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin arrives in Moscow. Churchill boasts about RAF Bomber Command's attacks on Germany and promises, "The longer the war lasts the more help we can give."

German/US Relations: The American Embassy in Berlin arranges the release of American journalist Richard C. Hottelet. Arrested on espionage charges on 15 March 1941, Hottelet is a member of the so-called Murrow Boys, U.S. war correspondents recruited by CBS on-air reporter Edward R. Murrow. Hottelet soon heads for Lisbon, where he can catch a flight to London.

US/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuko sends a diplomatic note to US Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew. It states that Japan desires peace and wishes to prevent the spread of war from Europe to the Pacific.

Hitler with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at the Wolfschanze in Rastenburg, East Prussia, 8 July 1941.

German Military: OKW operations chief Franz Halder briefs Hitler on the progress of the war in the Soviet Union. It is an encouraging briefing in which Halder claims that the Wehrmacht has pretty much destroyed 89 of 164 known Soviet rifle divisions (which is a vast overstatement). However, Halder insists that more power is needed on the eastern front, so Hitler releases 70 Mark IIIs, 15 Mark IVs, and the remaining Czech tanks from the OKW reserve. Management and use of reserves will be a huge topic of disagreement between the OKH (army command) and OKW (overall military command) throughout the war.

US Military: Patrol Wing 8 (Fleet Air Wing 8) is established at Naval Air Facility Breezy Point, Norfolk, Virginia. It later moves to Alameda, California.

While not technically a part of the US military, in substance it is an extension of the US Army Air Force. Today, pilots and staff of the American Volunteer Group (actually employed by a shell company) depart San Francisco for the Far East aboard Java Pacific liner "Jaegerfontein."

In Memphis, Tennessee, Army Major General Benjamin Lear, Commander of US Second Army, happens to observe some of his troops whistling at women passers-by while driving by. Lear makes all 350 men in the convoy walk the remaining 15 miles (24 km) to their destination. The troops' commander, Major General Ralph E. Truman (cousin of Harry), attempts to get Lear "retired" but fails. From this point forward, the rank and file call him "Yoo-hoo Lear."

Battleship USS Arizona arrives at Pearl Harbor.

British Military: Cadet David George Montagu Hay receives the Albert Medal for Lifesaving. Hay - who later becomes the 12th Marquess of Tweeddale - jumped out of a lifeboat after the sinking of freighter SS Eurylochus by German raider Kormoran on 29 January 1941 to rescue an officer without regard to his own safety.

Reykjavik, Iceland, 8 July 1941. US Marines landed on 7 July in order to relieve British troops and allow them to return to England.

China: There is a Japanese air raid on Chungking, the Nationalist capital. The British Embassy, already damaged in previous attacks, is destroyed during the raid.

Holocaust: Jews in the Baltic States are forced to wear the Yellow Star of David badge.

Soviet Homefront: The government institutes food rationing in major cities.

American Homefront: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. makes a speech to the Selective Service Parents and Neighbors Committee of the United Service Organizations that is broadcast over radio station WMGA in New York. He lists "the things that make life most worth living," which are all beliefs. These are:

• "the supreme worth of the individual"
• "Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation, every possession, a duty"
• "the law was made for man and not man for the law"
• "the dignity of labor"
• "thrift"
• "Truth and justice"
• "sacredness of a promise"
• "the rendering of useful service"
• "an all-wise and all-loving God"
• "love"

Rockefeller urges everyone to support the United Service Organizations to create a new world that recognizes "the brotherhood of man."
Major League Baseball holds its annual All-Star Game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. With the American League trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ted Williams hits a three-run home run to earn a 7-5 victory for the American League (Joe DiMaggio, on first base, actually scores the winning run). Williams later comments that the walk-off home run "remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life."

Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio at the All-Star Game held on July 8, 1941.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Friday 4 July 1941

A Panzer IV at Lepel being pulled off a bridge with a chain. The panzer slipped off the bridge and broke the bridge railing. (Federal Archive, Bild 146-1994-009-33).

Eastern Front: The German advance slows on 4 July 1941 due to recent rains that make the roads muddy. This problem with the roads is only a foretaste of serious difficulties the Wehrmacht will have in the Soviet Union with muddy roads throughout the war.

General Halder notes in his war diary that the panzers are outrunning the infantry, something Hitler already has tried to prevent by temporarily halting the panzers. Halder notes that "special measures will be necessary to bridge the gap." Overall, though, Halder notes that "on the whole, we discern distinct withdrawal movements, covered by armored counter-thrusts." He concludes optimistically that:

The situation supports the assumption that the enemy does not have sufficient forces left for a sustained defense of the line running from the old Russo-Estonian frontier along Dvina and Dniepr to the south. This theory is borne out also by a Russian order, intercepted yesterday, to the effect that the Dvina river will be held only by groups concentrated at the crossings.

In the Far North sector, Operation Arctic Fox, the joint German/Finnish operation toward Salla and ultimately the Murmansk railway, has stalled. The problem is that the Germans do not have sufficient forces at the point of attack just west of Salla. Army of Norway commander General Dietl moves some troops up from 163rd Infantry Division in Southern Finland (the division controversially moved across Sweden on the railway line) and asks the Finns to make a flank attack to restart the offensive. This will take a couple of days, and until then, the operation is on hold.

In the Army Group North sector, advance units of General Erich Hoeppner's 4th Panzer Group reach the vicinity of Ostrov. This marks the pre-1939 Russian frontier. A little further south the panzers meet strong opposition, but Army Group commander Field Marshal von Leeb brings up infantry in trucks and sustains the advance.

In the Army Group Center sector, the 19th Panzer Division of General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group reaches the Western Dvina River at Rogachev. Guderian's men immediately seize a bridgehead from Soviet 51st Rifle Corps of 22nd Army. The Germans quickly move the 18th Motorized Division into the bridgehead. A little further north, General Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group crosses the Beresina River. Hoth reports to OKW that he is down to 50% of combat strength.

The Soviets are taking advantage of the stormy weather which hit on 2 July to plan a counterattack along the main Moscow road. To do this, they mass troops in the vicinity of Smolensk. However, this will take them a couple of more days.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, moves his headquarters to Baranovichi. General Günther von Kluge, whom von Bock has put in command of Hoth's and Guderian's panzer groups, moves his headquarters to Minsk.

In the Army Group South sector, the panzers reach Buchach, Ukraine and take it without opposition after the Soviets abandon it. The Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies reach the northern rim of the Carpathian Mountains. The Soviet forces are retreating to the east within the Pripet Marshes. Heavy fighting breaks out in the Mogilev-Podolski area.

The Jewish residents of Storow or Slarov, Ukraine digging their own graves prior to their executions, 4 July 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 183-A0706-0018-029).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Australians plan a major attack for the 5th on Damour, which is a Vichy French administrative center. This town on the coast and the associated Damour River is the last major obstacle for the Australian advance north toward Beirut.

To the northeast, General Slim's Indian troops prepare to advance west from Deir ez-Zor. Their next objective is Raqqa, a road junction to the northwest on the road to Aleppo.

Off the coast, light cruisers Naiad and Ajax lead a destroyer force to shell Vichy French positions.

Flight Lieutenant A. Keith Ogilvie, DFC, Ottawa became a German POW on 4 July 1941. Flight Lieutenant Ogilvie had shot down seven enemy aircraft when he was wounded in combat when a German cannon shell fragment lodged in his shoulder. Ogilvie took part in the famous "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was recaptured. He passed away in 1998. (PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-36843).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 11 Bristol Blenheim bombers of RAF Nos. 105 and 107 Squadrons to Bremen. Using an unusual tactic, they come in low at 50 feet and attack factories and a minesweeper, dropping 6 tons of bombs. The daring raid, led by Australian Wing Commander Hughie Idwal Edwards, is very nearly a disaster for the RAF. Every plane is damaged, and four fail to return. This adds to the growing body of evidence that daylight bomber raids, long since abandoned on the western front by the Luftwaffe, are too costly to be profitable.

Edwards, already partially disabled from earlier injuries and further wounded during this raid, ultimately receives the Victoria Cross for his leadership during the raid.

There also is a Circus mission during the day to Choques.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Brest (88 aircraft) and Lorient (47).

The Luftwaffe sends 75 aircraft on scattered missions over Great Britain after dark.

East African Campaign: It is the rainy season in Abyssinia. The Italians slowly are being rounded up by the British forces. General Pietro Gazzera, the Governor of Galla-Sidama and the new acting Viceroy, is trapped at Kulkaber (Culqualber) with a large body of troops by Free Belgian forces under Major-General Auguste Gilliaert and has no chance to escape.

Battle of the Baltic:  Following a close escape on 3 July from one Finnish submarine, the Vetehinen, Soviet freighter Viborg (Vyborg) sees its luck run out. Finnish submarine Vesikko torpedoes and sinks Viborg east of Gogland Island. There is one death.

U-69 commander Kptlt. Jost. Metzler.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, is operating several hundred miles north of the Cape Verde Islands when it spots and sinks 5444-ton British freighter Auditor. There is one death. The 75 survivors make land in the Azores and Cape Verde islands in lifeboats.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) is returning to France after a lengthy patrol and is out of torpedoes, but it spots a freighter off the west coast of Africa. Metzler cannot resist attacking, so he orders the U-boat to the surface. His men use the deck guns to sink 2918-ton British freighter Robert L. Holt (Master John Alexander Kendall). This sinking sometimes is listed as taking place on either 2 or 3 July 1941. Nobody survives, 56 men perish.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy trawler Akranes off Bridlington Bay, Yorkshire. There are no casualties.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 362-ton British freighter Balfron a few miles off Ravenscar, Yorkshire. There are four deaths.

Local 454-ton vessel Goldfinch hits a mine about ten miles off St. Bees Head, Solway Firth. The ship is taken under tow to Whitehaven.

British 363-ton freighter Lunan hits a mine and sinks off Cardiff in Bristol Channel. There are five deaths and one survivor.

Royal Navy ocean boarding vessel Cavina stops 5522-ton German blockade runner Frankfurt in the mid-Atlantic hundreds of miles southwest of the Azores. Rather than allow the Frankfurt to be captured, the crew scuttles it. There are 26 survivors and 20 deaths.

Minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield BS.67 in the North Sea.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Furious leads a convoy of empty troops ships north from Gibraltar to the Clyde.

Convoy OG-67 departs Liverpool bound for Gibraltar.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Cowichan is commissioned.

Jews of Storow or Slarov, Ukraine being forced to dig their graves prior to their execution on 4 July 1941. The overseers in this picture are ethnic Germans local to the area. (Federal Archive, Bild Y 01-3861).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine Torbay sinks two caiques transporting troops and supplies off Doro Channel (near Euboea).

The RAF spots Vichy French auxiliary cruiser St. Didier off Adalia, Turkey. The St. Didier is disguised as a Turkish merchant ship. The RAF planes proceed to sink the St. Didier.

The Luftwaffe attacks Tobruk.

The RAF based in Malta sends five Wellington bombers to raid Tripoli, causing some damage.

It is a quiet day on Malta, with no air raid alarms. Royal Navy submarine HMS Osiris arrives and offloads 70 tons of bulk petrol in Marsaxlokk. Submarine Utmost also makes port after its patrol.

Bedford QLD GS (1941) (Alfvan Beem via Wikipedia).

Spy Stuff: The Japanese decide that they will link their espionage agents in the United States into a network that funnels its spy information south through the Mexican Embassy and its Ambassador Miura. In order to avoid US scrutiny, the Japanese intended to be the conduits of such information flows are to be reduced from official status to civilian status so that they can move across the border without incident.

Partisans: Joseph Broz aka Tito is named Military Commander by the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party. He issues a call to Yugoslavians to revolt against German/Italian rule. Meanwhile, the Chetniks, a completely separate Yugoslavian partisan group led by monarchist Draža Mihailović, attacks a police station in Serbia.

British Military: Orde Wingate, recently demoted and removed from his dismantled Gideon Force command in Abyssinia, attempts suicide by stabbing himself in the neck. The authorities decide to repatriate him to England. The incident may be attributed to side effects of Atabrine that Wingate is taking to combat a bout of malaria. Wingate's military career is not destroyed, however, because he has personal support from highly placed individuals within the British government.

Soviet Military: The NKVD arrests General of the Army Dimitry Pavlov, disgraced former commander of Western Front. He faces the death penalty for failing to stop the German invasion.

Iceland: Patrol Squadron Seventy Two (VP-72) begins operating PBY-5 Catalinas from Reykjavik, Iceland. These are in anticipation of the upcoming occupation of Iceland by US Marines to replace British troops. The Marines already are at sea, having left Argentia at dawn on 2 July. They are due to arrive at Reykjavik by 7 July. The Icelandic government is not thrilled at being occupied, but the prime minister reluctantly has cabled President Roosevelt that it is "in the best interest of Iceland."

The corpse of a dead German soldier, 4 July 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 146-1981-151-15A).

Holocaust: Riga's main synagogue is destroyed. There are many people trapped inside the structure who perish.

Einsatzkommando 9 (a unit of Einsatzgruppen B) in partnership with Lithuanians, begins shooting Jews in the pits of Ponary, a holiday destination before the war that is 10 km (6 miles) from Vilna. In addition, Germans arrive at the Synagogue on Zydowska (Zydu) Street in Vilna and demand that the Shamash (beadle), Haim Meir Gordon, form a governing group. This is the birth of the "First Judenrat," which is established on 24 July.

In one of many similar incidents all along the front, Soviet Army deserters ransack Jewish homes in Buchach after the Red Army retreats and before the Wehrmacht marches in later in the day. Joining them are various local people looking to take advantage of a temporary period of lawlessness. Many Jews lock themselves in their homes and welcome the arrival of the German troops as restoring order. Locals quickly sense the mood of the new occupiers and resume their depredations against the Jews, sometimes robbing them and kidnapping them as slaves.

At Tarnopol, German and local Ukrainian forces begin a pogrom against Jews. The Germans begin shooting at Jews in the street and invading Jewish homes. The reason for this incident appears, from local accounts, to be related to German anger at Soviet executions of prisoners at the Tarnopol prison - presumably including German POWs. The occupiers force Jews to dig up the courtyard of the prison in search of corpses and then carry them out for burial elsewhere.

At the Polish city of Lwów, several units composed of the SS, police and field gendarmerie under the command of SS officers arrest professors of the higher academic institutions at their homes. The SS men don't make distinctions and simply arrest all men over 18 in the homes (many adult children live with their parents). According to the sole survivor, Professor Groër, the arrested people are taken to the Abrahamowicz dormitory and told to stand against a wall for over an hour. The victims are taken to a cellar and shot one by one. When it is Groër's turn, he is asked why he, of German descent, did not leave the town when the Soviets (Bolsheviks) took over in 1939. He replies that he considers himself Polish and, in any event, the Soviets would not have allowed him to leave due to his university position. The only reasons Groër is spared are that he is married to a titled English woman, which for some reason impresses the executioners, and also has prewar contacts within the SS. This incident is a good example of Holocaust executions that are not based on the victims being Jewish.

British Homefront: Coal is in short supply because the miners have been called to active service duty. Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin now requires ex-miners to register for recall. Until production is increased, domestic users of coal are restricted to one ton a month of coal, coke or any related fuel. While this does not affect most private homes, it is a serious inconvenience to hotels and offices.

The British Communist Party, recognizing the reality of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, belatedly decides to support the war effort.

Lou Gehrig's memorial plaque at Yankee Stadium that is dated 4 July 1941 but actually was unveiled on 6 July 1941 due to a rained-out game.

American Homefront: It is Independence Day in the United States, and that means a number of speeches. President Roosevelt gives a relatively brief radio address from his home in Hyde Park, New York in which he warns that:

I tell the American people solemnly that the United States will never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship.

He urges sacrifice to preserve freedom.

Failed Presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie also gives a speech over the NBC radio network. He urges free trade and a form of globalism:

We must see to it that the trade areas of the world are enlarged, that artificial barriers between men are removed, so that there will be a constantly rising standard of living for all men who work, in which men of all races and creeds and religions and nations can live in peace and harmony, in which the just fruits of enterprise will find their just fulfillment, in which children may look forward to a constantly better world, free of hatred and bitterness and narrow isolationism and of economic degradation.

He concludes his speech by hopefully predicting the end of tyranny before the next fourth of July.

The New York Yankees wish to honor the recently deceases Lou Gehrig by unveiling a monument in Memorial Park, directly behind center field, today. He is the second player to be so honored. Gehrig is not buried there - his grave is in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York - but this is considered "his place" by many fans. Unfortunately, today's doubleheader against the Senators is rained out, so the date of the unveiling is moved to 6 July. Rainchecks for today's rained-out games become prized collector's items because they bear the Iron Horse's picture.

Paramount film "Caught in the Draft" is released. It stars Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, both taking a break from the "Road" films with Bing Crosby. Capitalizing on the war situation, the comedy featured Hope as a movie star who wants to evade the draft by getting married, but winds up with a colonel's daughter - and in the army. The film goes out of its way to make the military seem lenient and understanding in order to aid the war effort. The film opens at the Paramount in New York and becomes only the second film in the theater's 15-year history to run for five weeks.

A Rain Check for the 4 July 1941 Memorial Game honoring Lou Gehrig. The ceremony finally took place on 6 July 1941.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Wednesday 2 July 1941

Finnish troops with Soviet prisoners carrying a wounded comrade, 2 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: The front is moving rapidly eastward on 2 July 1941, and the reference points have to adjust along with it. For the first time, the Dniepr River looms in the calculations of both sides. Hitler's 29 June "stop" order is withdrawn, so the major Reich goals of Leningrad, Moscow, and Kyiv again send the panzers forward as if they were magnets drawn to a scrapyard. Heavy rains along part of the front slow the German advance.

In the Far North sector, the Germans have been rebuffed by strong Soviet defenses at the base of the Rybachy peninsula during Operation Silver Fox. So, General Dietl in the command of Army of Norway has shifted troops from there to the advance east toward the Litsa River. These new additions enable the Germans to fight through fierce Soviet resistance to the Litsa. However, going is slow and Soviet reinforcements are gradually stiffening the defense.

Operation Arctic Fox, the advance by German and Finnish troops toward Salla and ultimately the Murmansk railway line, bogs down. The Soviets counterattack SS Nord Division during daylight and stop the SS men cold. In a pattern of very uneven performance by SS units that recurs throughout the war, the SS staff panics and loses control. The troops, leaderless, flee to the rear. However, the XXXVI Corps staff finally regains control of the troops before a serious problem develops. The Army of Norway staff decides it needs to reinforce the advance with regular army troops.

In the Army Group North sector, the panzers of the 4th Panzer Group attack the Stalin Line. The leading panzers are halfway to Leningrad and still gaining ground at a rapid clip.

In the Army Group Center sector, new Western Front commander Marshal Timoshenko is under orders from the Stavka to defend the Western Dvina River-Dniepr River line. In the north, General Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group faces rainy weather and makes only a little ground to the outskirts of Polotsk. In the center, General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group (18th Panzer Division) takes Borisov from the remnants of the 13th Army and the Borisov Tank School. Guderian's tankers capture a key road bridge intact despite Soviet General Eremenko's personal orders to destroy it.

In the southern part of the central sector, the SS Motorized Division "Das Reich" also captures a bridgehead across the Berezina when it takes Pogost, but the German XXIV Motorized Corps has less luck. The Soviet 4th Army's Rifle Divisions are overwhelmed there, but they manage to destroy bridges at the Berezina, Ola, Dobosna and Drut Rivers.

In the Army Group South sector, Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies march with the German 11th Army into Soviet Moldavia. This is  Operation München. The Soviet Southern Front counterattacks, but are beaten off. Their objectives are the Prut and then the Dniester Rivers.

Future Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn of 6./JG 52 files his first victory claim. Heinz Bär of JG 51, who has 27 victories, is awarded the Ritterkreuz and promoted to Lieutenant.

Finnish troops, 2 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Following the loss of Sukhna to the Arab legion, the Vichy French in Palmyra fear being outflanked. So, after a lengthy and hard-fought battle in which they have held their own, the French surrender during the night of 2 July. Habforce now has an open road west to Homs 40 miles to the west and, ultimately, the coast near Beirut.

Off the coast, Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth and light cruiser HMS Naiad, along with escorting destroyers, shell the French positions at Damur. During this operation, the RAF mistakenly attacks the Perth, but miss.

Vichy French aircraft bomb the Royal Navy port of Haifa.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends a Circus mission (Bristol Blenheim bombers with a heavy fighter escort) against the railway yards and airfield at Lille. The raid is notable because the escorting fighters include the American-volunteer "Eagle Squadron" (RAF No. 71 Squadron of No. 11 Group, based at RAF North Weald). American William J. Hall becomes the first Eagle Squadron pilot to become a POW when he is shot down, and perhaps the first American serviceman to enter a POW camp during World War II.

During the Circus mission, the RAF loses four bombers and eight fighters. Obstlt. Adolf Galland claims his 70th victory, a Blenheim bomber. Others getting victories include

• Hptm. Rudolf Bieber of Stab I./JG 26 for his first kill (bomber)
• Fw. Günther Seeger of the Stab./JG 2 (bomber)
• Oblt. Josef "Pips" Priller of 1./JG 26 for his twenty-ninth
• Hptm. Gerhard Schöpfel of III./JG 26 for his twenty-seventh
• Hptm. Rolf Pingel of I./JG 26 for his twenty-second
• Oblt. Walter Schneider of 6./JG 26 for his fourteenth
• Ofw. Rudolf Täschner of 1./JG 2 for his thirteenth
• Lt. Horst Ulenberg of 2./JG 26 for his tenth
• Lt. Bruno Stolle of 8./JG 2
• Fw. Heinz Jahner of 9./JG 2
• Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Hepe of 4./JG 2. 

The Luftwaffe loses four planes, but all four pilots survive and return to their units. Galland's plane is badly damaged and he is injured, but he is able to return to the airfield. He is saved from death by extra armor recently added to this cockpit.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command bombs Bremen (67 bombers), Köln (Cologne, 42 bombers), and Duisburg (39).

Wing Commander Douglas Bader receives the Bar to his Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Later in the day, Bader claims one Bf 109 fighter destroyed and another damaged.

A building burning during Finnish offensive operations, 2 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Battle of the Baltic: In the Irben Strait (linking the Gulf of Riga with the Baltic Sea), Soviet destroyer Strashny hits a mine and is badly damaged while on a minelaying mission. Two other destroyers, Serdity and Silny, go on to lay their mines.

Both sides conduct minelaying operations in the Baltic.

Battle of the Atlantic: During the night of 1/2 July, the RAF scores a hit on German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The hit destroys the command room in the center of the ship and puts it out of action for the remainder of 1941.

Minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield BS 66 in the North Sea.

Convoy OB-341A departs from Liverpool for Halifax.

Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Talapus is launched in Victoria, B.C.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The siege of Tobruk continues. On both sides, there is occasional shelling, but overall the enemy is boredom rather than military action. For the Australians in Tobruk, water is a key concern. Nobody can shave, and occasional expeditions to watering holes after dark are a must. The heat is overbearing, and flies are everywhere.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay torpedoes and sinks 2933-ton Italian freighter Citta Di Tripoli north of Kea Island.

Swordfish of RAF No. 830 Squadron and Wellington bombers raid Tripoli after dark. The Swordfish lay mines at the harbor entrance and damage 1724-ton German freighter Sparta and 2517-ton Italian freighter Eritrea. In addition, the Wellingtons start several fires and damage some smaller vessels.

Refugees fleeing on a Panje Wagon which carries all of their belongings (Mehls, Federal Archives, Bild 146-2004-0221).

War Crimes: Advancing Wehrmacht troops discover 153 bodies of German Infantry Regiment 35 in a clover field near the town of Broniki in western Ukraine. This is the Broniki Massacre. The soldiers note that the bodies "have been slaughtered in a bestial manner and were mutilated." A few members of the slaughtered group are found and provide evidence to a Wehrmacht investigation. The surviving prisoners describe how the Soviets forced them to undress and then took them to a field and shot everyone. They also reveal that the Soviets used hand grenades and bayonets to murder prisoners. The German investigation reveals similar incidents happening elsewhere along the front; apparently, the Soviets choose not to take prisoners.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese are trying to get top-secret maps of US defenses in the Panama Canal Zone back to Tokyo. However, they fear actually trying to remove the maps from the Zone because airline crews are searching every piece of luggage. Following on several other subtle diplomatic attempts to change this policy, Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka instructs the Japanese minister in Mexico City to complain to the Guatemalan government about the practice. The Japanese hope, through this roundabout practice, to get the Pan American Airways crews to respect Japanese diplomatic privileges and not search their luggage - so that the Canal Zone diplomats can smuggle the militarily sensitive maps out.

A Wehrmacht soldier guards a column of Soviet prisoners in Minsk, 2 July 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 146-1982-077-11).

Applied Science: The MAUD Committee (apparently the initials stand for nothing, though some ascribe them to the British Military Application of Uranium Detonation) is a collection of top Allied scientists. Their mission is to determine the feasibility of using nuclear technology to create a bomb. Today, they have a meeting to discuss the committee's final report.

The committee decides to divide its lengthy MAUD Report into two separate reports: a lengthy "Use of Uranium for a Bomb"; and a shorter "Use of Uranium as a Source of Power." The former report states in its opening paragraph:

We have now reached the conclusion that it will be possible to make an effective uranium bomb which, containing some 25 lb of active material, would be equivalent as regards destructive effect to 1,800 tons of TNT and would also release large quantities of radioactive substances which would make places near to where the bomb exploded dangerous to human life for a long period.

The report creates a strong rationale for the formation of the Manhattan Project that develops the first atomic bombs. Its influence is widespread, leading directly to nuclear weapons programs not only in the United States but also in the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union (through copies obtained by spies).

Japanese/Soviet Relations: The Japanese send assurances to Soviet Ambassador to Japan Constantin Smetanin that they do not intend to join the Reich in its war against the Soviet Union.

The NKVD secret police prison in Lviv (Lvov), 2 July 1941 (Hübner, Federal Archive, Bild 146-1979-039-03).

German Military: German 2nd Army, moving from the Balkans, sets up its headquarters in Army Group Center. Its absence from the Eastern Front to date has not affected operations.

Soviet Military: Stalin is frustrated with the conduct of the war so far, so today he makes some more major changes. He appoints old hand Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko, Marshal of the Soviet Union and People's Commissar for Defence, to command the Western Front, with Eremenko and Marshal Semyon Budyonny (aka Budenny, the commander of the Group of Reserve Armies) as his deputies. This is the command that defends the approaches to Moscow, which already is coming into view as a battleground following the fall of Minsk.

Stalin also moves five armies, 16th Army, 19th Army, 20th Army, 21st Army and 22nd Army, from Budyonny's reserve forces and moves them up to the Smolensk region. Continuing his purge of army commanders that he sees as lacking, Stalin orders the arrest of 4th Army commander Lieutenant General Aleksander Andreevich Korobkov. Along with General of the Army Pavlov, disgraced former head of Western Front, Korobkov is charged with numerous offenses and faces the death sentence, and a finding of guilt is always a foregone conclusion in the USSR under Stalin.

Western Approaches Command at Derby House, July 1941."The switchboard controlling the teleprinter machines. On receiving a signal that there is a message to transmit, the operator on the switchboard plugs in the appropriate teleprinter machine in the adjoining room." © IWM (A 4541).

Japanese Military: Japan recalls all merchant shipping from the Atlantic Ocean. The Imperial Japanese Army calls up more than a million army conscripts, with 400,000 allocated to China and the remainder set aside for future operations in southeast Asia. Emperor Hirohito attends a conference at which war minister Hideki Tojo advocates an aggressive policy to secure territory following the German example. The conference ratifies Tojo's plan to take more control over French Indochina. The Emperor, bound by protocol, cannot say anything and merely accepts his ministers' proposals.

Japanese Government: Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka issues a statement immediately after the conference held in the presence of Emperor Hirohito. Obviously, it does not reveal the real decisions made at the conference about focusing military efforts to the south, particularly in French Indochina. However, it does convey the seriousness of the decisions made there regarding future Imperial policy:

As announced by the Government today, an important national policy has been decided upon at a council held in the Imperial presence...  I feel that a really grave state of super-emergency is developing before our eyes the world over as well as in East Asia, with the affairs of which our nation is directly concerned. The more serious the situation the more calm and composed must our nation be, and with a nationwide unity we must, in response to the August Will of His Imperial Majesty, endeavor not to make even the slightest deviation from the path along which our nation is to march forward.

Japan, he states, is watching the German-Soviet War closely, but gives no hint that the country feels any need to intervene.

A destroyed bridge in Minsk, 2 July 1941 (Mehls, Federal Archives, Bild 146-1991-008-27).

Canadian Military: The military institutes the Canadian Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

Holocaust: German special forces in the company of local Lithuanians begin to execute up to 100,000 civilians in Reichskommissariat Ostland. This is the Ponary Massacre, which lasts off and on through August 1944. It is named for the place where many of the executions take place, the railway station of Ponary (Paneriai) near Vilnius, Lithuania. The bulk of the people executed are Jews, with a few Poles and about 8000 Soviet POWs.

Another incident begins in Riga. Local police are incited to murder 400 Jews and burn down all of Riga's synagogues.

Riots break out in Lviv, Ukraine against racist laws.

American Homefront: Gary Cooper film "Sergeant York" opens at the Astor Theater in New York City with York himself, Eleanor Roosevelt, General John Pershing, and other luminaries in attendance. "Sergeant York," a tale of the eponymous World War I hero Alvin C. York, goes on to become a huge box office success. It also stars Walter Brennan, Noah Berry Jr., Howard Da Silva, and a young June Lockhart. "Sergeant York" aids the war effort by encouraging recruiting and is used to sell war bonds. Cooper goes on to win the Best Actor Oscar.

New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio is in Yankees Stadium for a game against the Boston Red Sox. Joe's brother, Dom, is the center fielder for the Sox, and Dom makes one of the best catches of his career to rob Joe of an extra-base hit. In his third at-bat, Joe gets a home run off Dick Newsome. This gives Joe DiMaggio a hit in 45 straight games. This sets a new major league record, breaking Wee Willie Keeler's previous record set in 1897.

The first live television game show premieres on the new CBS Television network called "CBS Television Quiz." The show features contestants given answers and asked to supply the questions - a format later made legendary on Merv Griffin show "Jeopardy.". CBS Television Quiz is the first game show to be broadcast regularly on television (there were occasional one-shot game show broadcasts in the 1930s such as "Spelling Bee" on the BBC in 1938). The show features host Gil Fates and scorekeeper Frances Buss. The live show runs weekly from today through 25 May 1942, with 47 episodes total. The shows are not taped or photographed in any fashion and are completely lost.

Movie poster for "Sergeant York," which opens on 2 July 1941.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Thursday 12 June 1941

"Shells from HMS SHEFFIELD hitting the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4392).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Australian 21st Brigade continues pushing up the key coastal road towards Sidon on 12 June 1941. The Vichy French assemble six battalions, including two French Foreign Legion, and a large group of tanks between Mount Hermon and the desert. The Vichy French also send three Tunisian battalions in the Jebel Druse sector.

The Australian 25th Brigade splits its forces, leaving a skeleton force to hold Merdjayoun (Medjayun) while sending the bulk as flank support for the 21st Brigade on the coast.

Free French troops capture Deraa, Sheikh Meskine, and Ezraa on the road to Damascus in the southwestern French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon. They finally are held up Kissoué (Kiswe). During the battle to take Kiswe, General Paul Legentilhomme of the Free French is wounded and replaced by Lloyd of the Indian 5th Brigade.

The RAF torpedoes 1105-ton French tanker Adour off Syria. The tanker makes port in Turkey, which interns it.

Back in Cairo, the British are surprised at the fierce Vichy French defense of Syria and Lebanon. Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell orders the 16th British Brigade to Syria to add some force to the invasion.

Damage on Randolph Road, Dover, from bombing on 12 June 1941 (Dover).

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends a dozen bombers against coastal targets. RAF Fighter Command conducts more Rhubarb and Roadstead operations. These include RAF No. 11 Group sending 24 fighters of RAF No. 74 and 92 Squadron along with 12 fighters of No. 611 Squadron against Gravelines. As bait to draw the Luftwaffe fighters up, the RAF fighters escort three Blenheim IV bombers from No. 2 Group.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 91 aircraft to attack Soerst, 84 to bomb Schwerte, 61 to attack Osnabruck, 82 to bomb Hamm and 18 to bomb Huls. The German civil defense authorities finally begin to realize the scale of the threat and warn people to seek shelter during raids.

The Luftwaffe has most of its assets in the East. Before dawn, they send one Heinkel He 111 of 1,/KG 28 to bomb Birmingham. The Luftwaffe also raids Dover, killing 16 people.

Hauptmann Herbert Nebenfuhr takes over as Gruppenkommandeur of Erg. Gruppe./JG 27 from Hptm. Erich Gerlitz.

"One of the lifeboats from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME, full of prisoners, comes alongside the SHEFFIELD." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4402).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues its sweep of the Atlantic Ocean for German supply ships. Cruiser HMS Sheffield finds 10,397-ton German tanker Friederich Breme and sinks it. There are 88 German survivors (two of 12 wounded crew later die as well). Eliminating these supply vessels intended to support (now sunk) battleship Bismarck has the benefit of crimping U-boat operations.

German heavy cruiser Lützow passes out of the Skagerrak on her way to Norway and a later breakout to the North Atlantic. This is Unternehmen Sommerreise (Operation Summer Trip).

The Royal Navy is keeping a close eye on Lutzow's progress and sends battleship King George V and light cruisers Arethusa and Aurora to reinforce the Northern Patrol. Just before midnight, the British Ultra service decodes German messages indicating where the German ships are. To intercept them, the RAF launches five Bristol Beaufort Mk I torpedo bombers of No. 22 Squadron from Wick and nine Beaufort Mk I machines of No. 42 Squadron from Leuchars in Scotland. Just after midnight on the 13th, a Bristol Blenheim of RAF No. 114 spots the German ships and reports their position.

U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze), on its 12th patrol and operating Lorient and operating north of the Azores, at 02:51 torpedoes and sinks 7005-ton British Empire Dew. There are 23 deaths. The 19-20 survivors, including the master, are picked up on the 13th by destroyer KNM St. Albans.

This is U-48's final victory of the war. After this, it will return to Kiel and become a training vessel. During its career, it has sunk 51 ships for a total of 306,875 tons, plus one warship of 1060 tons and three ships damaged totaling 20,480 tons.

U-371 (Kptlt. Heinrich Driver), on its first patrol out of Kiel and operating south of Iceland, at 03:26 torpedoes and sinks 6373-ton British freighter Silverpalm (the identity of the ship is assumed from British records but officially is undetermined). In any event, everybody on the Silverpalm perishes - 68 people - and a lifeboat containing 8 bodies is found on 15 July.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire and operating 370 nautical miles (690 km) northeast of the Azores (south of Ireland), at 04:14 torpedoes and sinks independent 8593-ton British freighter Chinese Prince south of Rockall. There are 45 deaths, while 19 survivors (including the master) are picked up by Royal Navy corvettes Arbutus and Pimpernel.

"The German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME on fire after gunfire from HMS SHEFFIELD." © IWM (A 4399).

U-553 (Kptlt. Karl Thurmann), on its second patrol out of St. Nazaire and operating north of the Azores, stalks Convoy OG-64 and sinks two ships in quick succession:

• 5590-ton Norwegian tanker Ranella (sinks in 90 seconds)
• 2355-ton British freighter Susan Maersk (breaks in half)

The U-boat surfaces and uses its deck gun to finishes off the Ranella at 17:06. Everybody on the Ranella survives, though the Ranella's crew has to endure 12 days at sea in two separate lifeboats before making landfall at Figueira da Foz, Azores. All 24 on the Susan Maersk perish.

U-557 (KrvKpt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen), on its first patrol and operating with Wolfpack West south of Iceland, is spotted by Royal Navy ships off St. John's, Newfoundland and attacked. The U-boat survives without damage.

Royal Navy auxiliary minesweeper HMT Sisapon hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Harwich, Essex.

Royal Navy escort ship HMS Sennen, a former US coast guard ship, collides with 88-ton drifter Animate in the Clyde. The Sennen continues with its duties.

At 01:27, Royal Navy light cruiser Arethusa, on its way to reinforce the Northern Patrol, intercepts 6537-ton Finnish freighter Kronoborg near the Scottish coast and sends it to Kirkwall for inspection. Light cruiser Aurora, accompanying Arethusa, also stops 1831-ton Finnish freighter Rolfsborg at the same time and also sends it to Kirkwall.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk departs from Freetown carrying 181 German prisoners taken from sunk German supply ships Esso Hamburg (9849 tons) and Egerland (9789 tons).

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unshaken is laid down, the destroyer HMS Ulster is ordered.

US destroyers USS David W. Taylor and Capps are laid down.

U-574 (Oberleutnant zur See Dietrich Gengelbach) and U-575 (Kptlt. Günther Heydemann) are commissioned, U-135, U-581, and U-582 are launched, U-518 is laid down.

"Captain Otto Schultze, the Captain of the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME being interrogated on board HMS SHEFFIELD by Royal Marine officers." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4408).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine Torbay sinks 239-ton Italian schooner Gesù e Maria off Skiros Island.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks Italian 1367-ton freighter Silvio Scaroni about 70 miles off Benghazi. Italian torpedo boats Pallade and Polluce attack the Taku, but it escapes undamaged.

Dutch submarine O.24 torpedoes and sinks 6660-ton Italian tanker Fianona south of Vada.

During the night, O-24 then attaches demolition charges to 143-ton Italian auxiliary patrol trawler Carloforte about 36 miles from Gorgara.

At Malta, an unusual naval action results when Royal Navy trawler HMS Jade goes out early in the morning to rescue a missing RAF pilot about 17 miles off the coast of Sicily. Two E-boats come out to confront the Jade and fire torpedoes. The torpedoes miss, and Jade opens fire, which returns fire. One man is killed on the Jade and the two E-boats take serious damage. The downed pilot, meanwhile, is never found.

The Italians send a formation over Malta from north to south and lose five fighters. The RAF loses two fighters, with one pilot killed and the other badly wounded. A third RAF fighter is damaged. Flight Commander Thomas Francis Neil of RAF No. 249 Squadron claims a Macchi MC-200 Thunderbolt fighter.
The South African Air Force conducts its first combat missions in North Africa.

"A wounded prisoner from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME being interrogated on board HMS SHEFFIELD." © IWM (A 4421).

Battle of the Pacific: US freighter Iowan runs aground on a reef a few hundred yards off Government Point, near Point Conception, California. The Iowan is towed off the reef late in June and repaired.

War Crimes: While this incident isn't intended as a war crime, it illustrates how even good intentions can go awry. At Malta, two Hawker Hurricanes are sent up to intercept enemy planes approaching the island. The fighters fire on one of the planes they find, a flying boat, in the darkness. The plane turns out to be an Italian Red Cross plane. The RAF pilots break off the attack when they realize their mistake, but it is too late - the Cant plane crashes into the sea, with unknown casualties.

This kind of incident resulting from the fog of war builds up hard feelings and leads to later incidents. The Italians, of course, don't know anything about good intentions and mistakes, they only know that the RAF shot down a Red Cross plane. Each side very much notices and keeps a score of these types of incidents.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese Vice-Consul in Hawaii, Takeo Yoshikawa (a Japanese military intelligence operative under the assumed name Tadashi Morimura), continues spying on US fleet and freighter movements in Pearl Harbor. Today, he reports that transport President Pierce has sailed for the Philippines with about 900 soldiers and 100 pilots on board.

German/Romanian Relations: Hitler concludes his meetings with Romanian leader Ion Antonescu in Munich. They reach an agreement for Romania to participate in Operation Barbarossa. Hitler then prepares to return to Berlin.

Anglo/US Relations: RAF Air Marshal Arthur Harris arrives in the United States. He is head of the RAF purchasing mission.

Representatives at the St. James conference. Visible are King George VI, Polish leader Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister Zaleski, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, South African High Commissioner Sidney Waterson, New Zealand Commissioner W.J. Jordan, Australian Commissioner S.M. Bruce, Canadian Commissioner Vinzent Massey, and Yugoslav minister Ivan Soubbotitch (Federal Archive Bild 183-M1023-508).

Allied Relations: An inter-allied meeting is held in London at St. James' Palace. Present are representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the Government of Belgium, the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, the Governments of Greece, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia, and the Representatives of General de Gaulle, leader of Free Frenchmen.

Prime Minister gives a speech to the delegates, stating in part:

Hitler may turn and trample this way and that through tortured Europe. He may spread his course far and wide and carry his curse with him. He may break into Africa or into Asia. But it is here, in this island fortress, that he will have to reckon in the end. We shall strive to resist by land and sea.

The governments agree in the "St. James Agreement" on the following points:

1. That they will continue the struggle against German or Italian aggression until victory has been won and they will mutually assist each other in this struggle to the utmost of their respective capacities;
2. There can be no settled peace and prosperity so long as free peoples are coerced by violence into submission to domination by Germany or her associates or live under the threat of such coercion;
3. That the only true basis for enduring peace is the willing cooperation of the free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security; and that it is their intention to work together with other free peoples both in war and peace to this end. 

Notably absent from the conference is an American representative.

"Oblique aerial view of Exeter airfield, Devon, from the north-east. Damage caused by the severe night air raids mounted against the airfield in April and May 1941 is still apparent among the buildings of the technical site on the left, including the large pre-war civilian hangar used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In the foreground repairs to the grass surfaces have been carried out by filling in bomb craters with rubble from bombed houses in Exeter. Aircraft, many of which belong to the Gunnery Research Unit, are dispersed around the airfield and in the adjoining fields. Boulton Paul Defiants of No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron RAF can be seen parked in the double aircraft pens constructed around the dispersal loop track (lower right), which cuts across fields and hedge boundaries of land requisitioned from nearby Treasbeare Farm." © IWM (HU 91898).

US Military: The US Navy calls up the Naval Reserve to active duty who are not in a deferred status (e.g., married).

German Military: Hitler's adjutant, Rudolf Schmundt, travels to a pine forest near Rastenburg in East Prussia. Hitler has ordered him to check to make sure that a forward military headquarters is being built for him there.

The OKW distributes the infamous "Kommissarbefehl" [Commissar order] of 6 June 1941 under the innocuous title "Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia."

The Wehrmacht is in the final stages of assembling 130 divisions on the border with the Soviet Union. There also are allied forces in Finland and Romania preparing to take part.

Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler begins a three-day conference of senior Schutzstaffel (SS) men (SS-Gruppenführer rank and higher) at Schloß Wewelsburg in Büren, Germany. The SS has been building up fighting (Waffen) forces in anticipation of Operation Barbarossa.

"German prisoners from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME going on board HMS SHEFFIELD." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4404).

Holocaust: It is Anne Frank's 12th birthday. The family now lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her father Otto has had to transfer his shares in his company, Pectacon (a wholesaler of herbs, pickling salts, and mixed spices) to a non-Jew, Johannes Kleiman. The company was then liquidated. The family still lives openly on the Merwedeplein, but Otto's income has been greatly reduced.

In the Warsaw Ghetto, 15-year-old Mary Berg writes in her diary:

The ghetto is becoming more and more crowded; there is a constant stream of new refugees. These are Jews from the provinces who have been robbed of all their possessions. Upon their arrival the scene is always the same: the guard at the gate checks the identity of the refugee, and when he finds out he is a Jew, gives him a push with the butt of his rifle as a sign that he may enter our Paradise. […] These people are ragged and barefoot, with the tragic eyes of those who are starving. Most of them are women and children. They become charges of the community, which sets them up in so-called homes. There they die sooner or later.

She concludes her entry: "The community is helpless."

Members of C Company, 2/33rd Battalion loading up a donkey with rations and ammunition to supply troops occupying a strategic position overlooking one of the mount roads to Merdjayoun [Australian War Memorial AWM 008205].

American Homefront: President Roosevelt nominates Harlan F. Stone to be the 12th Chief Justice of the United States, and also James Byrne as an associate justice. Stone will be confirmed on 28 June, and Byrne on 8 July.

In his weekly radio address, Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron states that the Los Angeles Police Department has done a good job handling the recent North American Aviation Strike. He claims that the police were unable to handle the violent confrontation, requiring the presence of US Army troops to secure the plant and return it to operation pursuant to President Roosevelt's recent executive order.

Future History: Marvin Philip Aufrichtig is born in Brooklyn, New York. As Marv Albert, he becomes a broadcaster who serves for 37 years beginning in 1967 for the New York Knicks NBA team. He also becomes the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA on NBC in the 1990s. As of this writing, Marv Albert continues to serve as a broadcaster for the NBA, NCAA, TNT and in other venues.

Armando Anthony Corea is born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. As Chick Corea, he becomes a legendary jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. He continues to perform as of this writing.

Reginald Maurice Ball is born in Andover, United Kingdom. Adopting the stage name of Reg Presley, he becomes the lead singer and composer with 1960s rock and roll band The Troggs. He is best known for classics "Wild Thing" and "With A Girl Like You." Reg Presley passes away on 4 February 2013.

A nurse with a patient at Sandleford Priory, a country house at Sandleford in Berkshire. Sandleford is one of many taken over by the Joint War Organization (of the British Red Cross and Order of St John) to provide convalescent care and rehabilitation for injured servicemen, 12 June 1941.

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020